Multi-criteria decision-making in the evaluation of environmental quality of OECD countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-130
Author(s):  
Van Thac Dang ◽  
Wilson V.T. Dang
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Environmental Quality ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Oecd Countries ◽  
Economic Life ◽  
Multi Criteria Decision Making ◽  
Entropy Weight ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to use multi-criteria decision-making methods to assess environmental quality of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Design/methodology/approach Weights of criteria are determined by means of entropy weight method. VIKOR method is used to rank different OECD countries based on their environmental quality. Findings The results show the best and the worst environmental quality of different OECD countries. The top five countries of environmental quality are Spain, Israel, Belgium, Japan and the USA. These countries have the best quality of environment. By contrast, the worst five countries of environmental quality are Iceland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Chile. Originality/value The findings have implications regarding environmental quality. The results suggest that governments should engage in policy-making that improves their environmental quality. Specifically, those having poor quality of environment should protect the environment and reduce the negative impact on environment. For example, reduce emission of CO2 to lessen the impact of climate change, improve the quality of air and water, reduce waste generation, increase biodiversity and enhance forest resources. Improvement of environmental quality will improve our social and economic life as well as health conditions.

“When I get older, I wanna be an entrepreneur”: the impact of disability and dyslexia on entrepreneurial self-efficacy perception

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Powers ◽  
Séverine Le Loarne-Lemaire ◽  
Adnane Maalaoui ◽  
Sascha Kraus
Keyword(s):  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Entrepreneurial Intention ◽  
Economic Life ◽  
Entrepreneurial Intentions ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThis article contributes to the literature on entrepreneurship for people with disabilities through a better understanding of the impact of entrepreneurial self-efficacy perceptions on entrepreneurial intentions in populations with lower levels of self-esteem. It investigates the entrepreneurial intention and self-efficacy of a population of students suffering from dyslexia, which is a learning disability.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on the study of a data set of 796 male and female adolescents in the USA, aged 13–19 years, both with and without dyslexia. The sample is a convenient one. The whole sample replied to the questionnaire on their self-efficacy perception and their intention to create, one day, their own venture. They also self-declare their dyslexia. Regressions have been conducted to answer the research question.FindingsResults show that having dyslexia has a negative impact on entrepreneurial self-efficacy perceptions. They also reveal that self-efficacy perceptions mediate the relationship between dyslexia and entrepreneurial intentions and their three antecedents (social norms, control behavior and perceived ability).Research limitations/implicationsThe sample is composed of students from private schools and might socially be biased.Practical implicationsOur findings relaunch the debate on the necessity to develop education programs that consider the personal-level variables of students, specifically the development of entrepreneurial self-efficacy among adolescents with disabilitiesSocial implicationsSuch findings should help to better understand students who are suffering from dyslexia and help them find a place in society and economic life.Originality/valueThis is so far the first study that has been conducted on dyslexic adolescents.

Fuzzy C-means based data envelopment analysis for mitigating the impact of units’ heterogeneity

Kybernetes ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 536-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seyed Hossein Razavi Hajiagha ◽  
Shide Sadat Hashemi ◽  
Hannan Amoozad Mahdiraji
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Data Envelopment Analysis ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Efficiency Score ◽  
Data Envelopment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fuzzy C Means ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Decision Making Units

Purpose – Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a non-parametric model that is developed for evaluating the relative efficiency of a set of homogeneous decision-making units that each unit transforms multiple inputs into multiple outputs. However, usually the decision-making units are not completely similar. The purpose of this paper is to propose an algorithm for DEA applications when considered DMUs are non-homogeneous. Design/methodology/approach – To reach this aim, an algorithm is designed to mitigate the impact of heterogeneity on efficiency evaluation. Using fuzzy C-means algorithm, a fuzzy clustering is obtained for DMUs based on their inputs and outputs. Then, the fuzzy C-means based DEA approach is used for finding the efficiency of DMUs in different clusters. Finally, the different efficiencies of each DMU are aggregated based on the membership values of DMUs in clusters. Findings – Heterogeneity causes some positive impact on some DMUs while it has negative impact on other ones. The proposed method mitigates this undesirable impact and a different distribution of efficiency score is obtained that neglects this unintended impacts. Research limitations/implications – The proposed method can be applied in DEA applications with a large number of DMUs in different situations, where some of them enjoyed the good environmental conditions, while others suffered from bad conditions. Therefore, a better assessment of real performance can be obtained. Originality/value – The paper proposed a hybrid algorithm combination of fuzzy C-means clustering method with classic DEA models for the first time.

scholarly journals The impact of ethnic diversity on the quality of exports: evidence from China

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuan Anh Luong
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Economic Life ◽  
Important Indicator ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Data Limitations ◽  
Differentiated Goods ◽  
Quality Of Products ◽  
Degree Of Differentiation ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThe quality of exports is an important indicator of the economic development of a country. It is, therefore, important to understand its determinants. Existing literature reveals a number of determinants such as the position of a country, the distance to the trading partner, the size of the firm and the productivity or the quality of inputs. In this study, the author proposes a new determinant, namely ethnic diversity.Design/methodology/approachIn the first stage of this research, the author estimates the quality of exports following Berry (1994) approach. The author also addresses the endogeneity problem as suggested by Khandelwal (2010). The author’s measure of ethnic diversity follows Easterly and Levine (1997). In the second stage, the author regresses the estimated quality on the measure of ethnic diversity, interacted by the degree of differentiation of the goods.FindingsFirst, the author finds that ethnic diversity in general reduces the quality of exports. Second, the author finds that the impact varies with the degree of differentiation. In particular, while ethnic diversity decreases the quality of differentiated goods, it increases the quality of homogeneous goods.Research limitations/implicationsBecause of data limitations, the research cannot investigate the impact of migration.Practical implicationsThe findings of this paper show how one can improve the quality of products based on the characteristics of the population and of the products.Originality/valueIn the last decade, there has been growing attention paid to the impact of ethnic diversity on economic performance. As industrial powerhouses such as China continue to urbanize, stitching together once-disparate ethnic groups, the role ethnic diversity plays in the economic life of a country must be examined from a variety of angles. This paper is the first to investigate the specific impact of that diversity on product quality and on how diversity interacts with the characteristics of products.

A materialistic perspective of consumer decision-making styles

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-248
Author(s):  
Sartaj Chaudhary ◽  
Ajoy Kumar Dey
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
School Children ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Second Order ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Consumer Decision Making ◽  
Consumer Decision ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Decision Making Styles ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Materialism has become a topic of increasing interest to researchers and policymakers because it can influence consumer behavior. However, a clear picture of how this phenomenon impacts consumers has proven to be elusive. Using an integrated framework, this paper aims to derive hypotheses from theoretical concepts of materialism and consumer decision-making styles and uses a survey of 1,216 respondents in India to test the hypotheses. Design/methodology/approach The present study is the first of its kind to test the impact of materialist values on consumer decision-making styles among a sample of 13-18 years old school children. The constructs are validated through a first- and second-order confirmatory factor analysis and an integrated second-order structural model is developed. Findings This study finds that materialism is a positive predictor of “recreation/ hedonistic”,; “confused by over-choice”; “brand consciousness”; “perfectionistic high-quality consciousness”; and “habitual brand loyal” style of consumers. Further, materialism has a negative impact on “price value consciousness” of consumers. These findings have important implications for theory and practice. Research limitations/implications This study is restricted to school children in the National Capital Region and hence cannot be generalized to the whole young population in India. Originality/value Conceptualizing both materialism and consumer decision-making styles as second-order constructs, this is a maiden study that examines the impact of materialistic values on the consumer decision-making styles of young consumers.

Study of Luxembourg workplaces shows diversity has negative impact on job satisfaction

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Quality Of Work Life ◽  
Workplace Diversity ◽  
Foreign Workers ◽  
Social Security Administration ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Gender And Age ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Previous studies examined the effects of diversity according to gender, race and age, whereas the present study focused on nationality. The authors wanted to find out the impact of workplace diversity on job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach The analysis relied on two data sources. The first was the 2013 survey of “Working Conditions and the Quality of Work Life” in Luxembourg. The sampling plan was based on data from Luxembourg’s social security administration. There were four variables: The first was the size of the firm (less than 15 employees, between 15 and 49, and more than 50). The second was employee status (blue collar worker, or employee). The other variables were gender and age. Findings Results showed workplace diversity has a negative impact on job satisfaction. But the data also revealed job satisfaction increased for the minority nationalities when a certain threshold for diversity was reached. The authors said this might be because when there were enough workers “like themselves”, satisfaction grew. Originality/value The authors said their study would become increasingly important as globalization increased the proportion of foreign workers inside firms. They said that from a managerial perspective, it was crucial to know if national diversity was linked to employees’ attitudes.

Does financial literacy “grease the wheels” of the loans market? A note

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fátima Sol Murta ◽  
Paulo Miguel Gama
Keyword(s):  
Financial Literacy ◽  
Commercial Banks ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Estimation Methods ◽  
Global Test ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Lending Activity ◽  
The Impact

Purpose What is the impact of financial literacy on the lending activity of banks? Based on the results of the S&P Global FinLit Survey for an extensive sample of countries, this paper aims to provide the first global test for the impact of country-level financial literacy on the lending activity of commercial banks. Design/methodology/approach The authors use data on financial literacy by country from the S&P Global FinLit Survey that was completed in 2014 and lending activity and macroeconomic control variables data from the World Bank from 2015 to 2017 to estimate the cross-sectional effect of financial literacy on the importance of loans and of non-performing loans, using different estimation methods. Findings The results show that, first, financial literacy favors lending activity, contributing to enhance the importance of credit in the economy. Second, financial literacy prevents bad loans from building up, thus reducing credit risk and favoring the quality of the credit portfolio of banks. These results are robust to several controls for macroeconomic conditions and the quality of institutions. They are also robust to different estimation methods. Research limitations/implications The evidence of the positive (negative) impact of population financial literacy on the quantity (poor quality) of loans suggests that the efforts to enhance the financial literacy of the population contribute to the sustainable development of the financial sector and economic growth. Originality/value The paper extends to an international and country-level the available evidence of the consequences of the existence (or lack of) of financial literacy for the lending activity of commercial banks, focusing on the amount of credit granted and the quality of such credit. Thus, the paper provides an exploratory analysis of the impact of country-level financial literacy on the lending activities of commercial banks.

Implicit followership theories from the perspective of followers

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 581-596
Author(s):  
Yongyong Yang ◽  
Wendian Shi ◽  
Beina Zhang ◽  
Youming Song ◽  
Dezhen Xu
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Implicit Attitude ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Collegial Relationships ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Implicit Followership Theories

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the structure, implicit attitude and consequences of followers' implicit followership theories in the Chinese cultural context through three studies. Study 1 explores the structure of followers' implicit followership theories. Study 2 examines the implicit attitude of followers towards followers' implicit followership theories. Study 3 verifies the impact of followers' implicit followership theories on the quality of collegial relationships.Design/methodology/approachThe data for study 1 (n = 321) and study 3 (n = 243) were collected through an online self-report questionnaire, and the data for study 2 (n = 30) were collected through the go/no-go association task.FindingsThe structure of followers' implicit followership theories includes two dimensions: positive followership prototypes and negative followership prototypes. Followers' implicit attitudes were more likely to match positive followership prototypes than negative followership prototypes. Positive followership prototypes had a significantly positive impact on the quality of collegial relationships, whereas negative followership prototypes had a significantly negative impact on the quality of collegial relationships.Research limitations/implicationsThe psychology and behaviour of employees can be better understood by exploring followers' implicit followership theories.Practical implicationsEmployees hold a relatively positive implicit attitude towards followers. Therefore, managers should provide positive feedback to improve employees' positive self-cognition so that employees can better serve the organization and better promote its development.Originality/valueThe paper is one of the few studies to explore followers' implicit followership theories in the Chinese cultural context.

scholarly journals The Impact of Uncertainty Factors on the Decision-Making Process of Logistics Management

Processes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 512
Author(s):  
Łukasz Marzantowicz
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Logistics Management ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Management Decisions ◽  
Uncertainty Factors ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Uncertainty Variable

The article is a contribution to the discussion on the possibilities of effective logistic decisions under the conditions of uncertainty. Variable and unpredictable factors, which create the conditions of uncertainty, not only directly affect logistic processes (positive or negative impact), but can also be a determinant of making decisions. Logistics management, because it is referred to in the context of decision-making, is currently defined by the quality of management decisions taken, including factors which often constitute only partially quantifiable sets. The main goal of the article is to show the strength of the dependence between the occurrence of uncertainty factors and the type of decision. On the basis of decision-making theory, the types of decisions were defined, and then a set of factors that are most important for a given type of decision was selected. The results of the analysis allowed the strength of the influence of uncertainty factors on making logistics decisions to be determined. On this basis, a catalog of key decisions was selected, including decision types, and also the effects of decisions taken under uncertainty were determined. The study and the results of the analysis should be treated rather as a voice in the ongoing discussion. Due to the unpredictability of some uncertainty factors, the research field in the discussed problem remains open.

Contract design and supplier performance: an empirical investigation using multi-criteria, decision analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilias Vlachos
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Contract Design ◽  
Complex Environments ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Supplier Performance ◽  
Analytical Tools ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThis study aims to investigate how contract design influences supplier performance. This study synthesises three theoretical views (efficiency, relational, contingency) and provides empirical support on how effective contract design improves supplier performance.Design/methodology/approachThis study reviewed contract design literature and uncovered 18 factors that may impact supplier performance. Multi-criteria, decision-making analysis examined the impact of contract factors on three supplier groups: average-, over- and under-performers. Procurement experts working with a large multinational company dealing with hundreds of procuring contracts, yearly, provided their judgement on the impact of these factors on supplier performance. Semi-structured interviews with experts and other evidence were used for data and method triangulation.FindingsResults show that contracting with under- and over- performers presents significant differences: in the case of over-performers, contracts have a dual, yet discrete, efficiency and relational role: at transaction level, they emphasise formality, protect from opportunism and include both liquidated damages and legal action clauses. At relational level, they focus on relational learning and incentivising suppliers. However, in the case of under-performers, contracts appear to focus on contingency factors, which can be a source of ambiguity, particularly in complex environments, and trust, which has a negative impact on supplier performance.Social implicationsImproving contract design can help reduce partner opportunism, reduce inter-firm conflicts and avoid disputes that can bear a social cost. This study demonstrates that companies can use advanced analytical tools to reflect upon their own decision-making process of contact design in making transparent supplier performance assessments.Originality/valueTo the author’s knowledge, this is the first study using decision-making techniques to enhance supplier performance by improving the contract design process.

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